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Fethullah Gülen

Religious life
Religion	Islam
Muslim leader
Based in	Turkey
Period in office	Modernity

Mehmet Fethullah Gülen (b. either 1938, 1941, or 1942, possibly on 27 April) is a Turkish preacher, author, and educator living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. He is the leader of the "Gülen movement," an international network of schools and businesses run by his students.

Gülen's theology can be described as a modernized, moderate version of Sunni / Hanafi Islam, similar to that of Said Nursi (from whose movement he broke away during the 1970's). Gülen condemns terrorism, , supports interfaith dialogue, . and emphasizes the role of science.

In the Turkish context, however, Gülen appears relatively conservative and religiously observant. For example, he supports the right of women to veil themselves , and his female followers usually do wear headscarves. The private, independent nature of his network arouses suspicion among certain Turkish secularists, including many in the army, who fear that he is amassing a political base.

Biography

Gülen was born in the village of Korucuk, near Erzurum. His father, Ramiz Gülen, was an imam. Gülen started primary education at his home village, but did not continue after his family moved, and instead focused on informal Islamic education. He gave his first sermon when he was 14. He became a follower of Said Nursi(Said-i Kurdi) before he was 18.

In 1959 he was awarded a state preacher's license in Edirne. In 1966 he was transferred to a post in İzmir. It was here that Gülen's recurring themes--these included education, science, the economy and social justice--began to crystallize and his audience base began to expand. He also traveled around the provinces in Anatolia and gave sermons in mosques, town meetings and coffee houses among other places. From İzmir on, he placed a special emphasis on promulgating his ideas to high school and college students and recruiting them for his movement.

Gülen never met Said Nursi, who died in 1960. By the end of the 1970s Gülen broke ranks with the mainstream Nurcu movement (or Nur movement, i.e., the group following Nursi), which was governed by a council of elders, and created his own institutions in which he was the sole leader. Stressing the fragmented nature of the Nurcu movement, Hakan Yavus offers the following analysis of Gülen and his place within it:

"In terms of nationalism, Gülen is more Turkish nationalist in his thinking. Also, he is somewhat more state-oriented, and is more concerned with market economics and neo-liberal economic policies."

Forbes finds significance in Gülen's residence in Izmir, a newly-liberated (from the Greeks) city lacking the Naqshbandi networks which inspired the Nurcu movement:

"Gulen put Nursi's ideas into practice when he was transferred to a mosque in Izmir in 1966. Izmir is a city where political Islam never took root. However, the business and professional middle class came to resent the constraints of a state bureaucracy under whose wings it had grown, and supported market-friendly policies, while preserving at least some elements of a conservative lifestyle. Such businessmen were largely pro-Western, because it was Western (mainly U.S.) influence, which had persuaded the government to allow free elections for the first time in 1950 and U.S. aid, which had primed the pump of economic growth."

His pro-business stance has led some outsiders to dub his theology an Islamic version of Protestantism, or more specifically, Calvinism.

Gülen retired from formal preaching duties in 1981. From 1988 to 1991 he gave a series of sermons in popular mosques of major cities, and during the 1990's cultivated ties with moderate-religious political parties such as Refah and the AK Party. These activities elevated him to a public figure. In 1994, he participated in the founding of "Journalists and Writers Foundation". and was given the title "Honorary Leader" by the foundation.

Though linked with the moderate-religious party Refah, in 1997 Gülen declined to protest the closure of that party.

In 1998 Gülen emigrated to the United States, ostensibly for health problems (he suffers from diabetes) but arguably in anticipation of being tried over remarks which seemed to favor an Islamic state. He was filmed as urging followers to "work patiently and to creep silently into the institutions in order to seize power in the state." Gülen complained that the remarks were taken out of context, and questions were raised about the authenticity of the tape, which he accused of having been "manipulated." Gülen was tried in absentia in 2000, and acquited in 2006. The Supreme Court of Appeals later rejected an appeal by the Chief Prosecutor's Office.

Theology

Gülen has authored over 60 books and many articles on a variety of topics: social, political and religious issues, art, science and sports, and recorded thousands of audio and video cassettes. He contributes to a number of journals and magazines owned by his followers. He writes the lead article for the Fountain, Yeni Ümit, Sızıntı, and Yağmur, Islamic and philosophical magazines in Turkey.

Interfaith dialogue, terrorism

While Gülen's earlier works are (in Bekim Agai's words) "full of anti-missionary and anti-Western passages" , during the 1990's he began to advocate interreligious tolerance and dialogue. He personally met with leaders of other religions, including Pope John Paul II, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos, and Israeli Sephardic Head Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.

In 2004 debate arose over comments by Gülen to the effect that terrorism was as despicable as atheism. In a follow-up interview he explained he did not intend to equate atheists and murderers; rather, he wanted to highlight the fact that according to Islam both were destined to suffer eternal punishment. On another occasion he said:

"One of the people in the world I hate the most is Osama Bin Laden, because he has spoiled the bright appearance of Islam. He has created a dirty image. Even if we try to fix that terrible damage with all our best, it would take years. We will tell about it everywhere in different platforms. We will write books about it. We will say, 'this is not Islam.' Bin Laden replaced Islamic logic with his feelings and desires. He is a monster, as are the men around him. If there is any one similar to them, they too are nothing more than monsters."

Similar to Said Nursi, Gülen favors cooperation between followers of different religions (this would also include different forms of Islam, such as Sunnism vs. Alevism in Turkey) as well as religious and secular elements within society. He has been described as "very critical of the regimes in Iran and Saudi Arabia" due to their undemocratic, sharia-based systems of government.

Feminism

Despite "progressive views" on women, "modern professional women in Turkey still find his ideas far from acceptable." (So Aras and Caha.) The coming of Islam, Gülen claims, "saved" women, who "were absolutely not confined to their home and...never oppressed" in the early years of the religion. Western-style feminism, however, is "doomed to imbalance like all other reactionary movements...being full of hatred towards men..."

Books

Pearls of Wisdom, Emerald Hills of the Heart, Prophet Muhammed as Commander, Questions and Answers, Essentials of the Islamic Faith, The Infinite Light vol 1–2, Towards the Lost Paradise, Truth Through Colors, Muhammad: The Messenger of God, Questions and Answers about Faith, Towarda Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance, Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism (3 vols), The Statues of Our Souls, etc. His Books

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